Personal safety, violence, and home health

A critical issue facing the health care industry today is the potential imp act of community and interpersonal violence on home health care. The purpos es of this study were to (1) serve as a source for understanding the person al safety risk issues facing home care staff in a large Midwest region and its surrounding rural areas; (2) provide an understanding of how perceived threats to personal safety may impact patient care and patient outcomes; (3 ) identify strategies for increasing the personal safety of direct care sta ff; and (4) identify organizational, educational, and procedural issues tha t impede or enhance staff safely. A triangulated qualitative design was use d including focus groups, in-depth individual interviews, critical event na rratives, and a participant self-report form. The study used a purposive sa mple consisting of 5 men and 56 women who were either administrators or dir ect care staff from 13 home health agencies. Seven major themes emerged: (1 ) unsafe conditions that direct care staff must face; (2) organizational an d administrative issues that impede or promote the personal safety of staff ; (3) ethical issues staff face daily; (4) protective factors associated wi th maintaining safety; (5) issues of gender, race, age, and experience; (6) education and training; and (7) the potential impact that staff's fear of interpersonal and community violence can have on patient care and patient o utcomes.